CEE Illinois Impact
IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE AND INSPIRING ILLINOIS' NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS
CEE at Illinois is tackling some of the world’s most critical and complex challenges to create a better future not just globally but locally. Illinois isn’t just the home of the department, it is the focus of some of its most innovative, impactful research.
Over the years CEE faculty and research centers have made significant achievements in creating sustainable solutions to some of Illinois’ toughest problems. In doing so, they have cultivated a long-standing collaborative partnership with the state, where organizations and agencies rely upon CEE experts to inform policy and programmatic decisions. As Illinois moves into the future, CEE will continue to be a leader and partner in strengthening its water resources, infrastructure, and transportation, while also inspiring a new generation of leaders to create innovative solutions for a brighter tomorrow.
Illinois impact highlights
Improving Chicago's TARP system to address flooding
Read more about Marcelo Garcia's collaboration with the MWRDGC and work on an enhanced computer model for Chicago’s $4 billion Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP).
VEN TE CHOW HYDROSYSTEMS LAB
IDOT-ICT Research Showcase brings together industry, academia
Illinois Center for Transportation researchers shared their Illinois Department of Transportation-sponsored research at the IDOT-ICT Research Showcase on Wednesday, October 9.
ILLINOIS CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION
Boneyard Creek flow restrictor study
Researchers at the Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Lab conducted extensive research to address the flooding impacting the University of Illinois campus and surrounding Champaign-Urbana community.
VEN TE CHOW HYDROSYSTEMS LAB
CEE researchers partner with Illinois
CEE at Illinois is one of the nation’s best-equipped programs, with a broad range of facilities for civil and environmental engineering education and research. Several CEE laboratories and research centers have long-standing collaborative partnerships with agencies and organizations across the state of Illinois.
ILLINOIS CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION (ICT)
Illinois Center for Transportation’s research projects range from theoretical to full-scale field-testing and evaluation of pavement, railroad and transportation systems. Innovative partnerships and collaborations include Illinois Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, industries, national and international agencies, and many others.
ILLINOIS CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION
I-ACT
The Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track (I-ACT) is poised to lead the rapidly growing field of smart mobility by expanding our thriving Rantoul-based research facility into a full-fledged, state-of-the-art research arena for the development, integration testing and commercialization of smart, autonomous and multimodal transport. The initiative will combine Illinois' unique strengths and establish necessary partnerships between government agencies, academic institutions, key industry and nonprofit organization partners.
ILLINOIS CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION
Development of Design Guidance for IDOT Smart Work Zone Systems
CEE Professors Khaled El-Rayes and EJ Ignacio lead project to assess design guidance for smart work zone (SWZ) systems in Illinois. IDOT has used these systems for over 20 years to inform motorists, encourage them to take alternate routes, reduce their frustrations, reduce roadway congestion, and enhance safety for motorists and workers in work zones. Despite the benefits of SWZ systems, there is little guidance on standardizing their adoption and implementation to maximize safety.
ICT, IDOT sign $48M agreement to transform transportation system
Illinois Department of Transportation has signed a six-year, $48 million agreement with the Illinois Center for Transportation for their joint research program, starting July 1, 2024. At the top of their list is developing and implementing next-generation mobility technologies, while ensuring a safe, resilient and net-zero emission transportation system by 2050.
Advancing Air Mobility in Illinois
ICT’s Advancing Air Mobility (AAM) in Illinois project is proactively preparing Illinois for the emergence and advancement of highly automated aircraft operations in the lower altitudes of the National Airspace System.
Quantifying Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ridership of CTA Rail and Bus Systems in Chicago"
Yanfeng Ouyang lead a special “fast-turn-around” project to analyze the pandemic’s impacts on Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Metra ridership, and provide IDOT and the CTA with insights to make effective policy decisions and identify planning resources for any future disruptions.
VEN TE CHOW HYDROSYSTEMS LAB (VTCHL)
The Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory is an 11,000 square foot lab in the CEE Building that supports research and teaching on river meandering, coastal erosion, oceanic turbidity currents, sedimentation engineering, environmental fluid mechanics and hydraulic structures. VCTHL has a history of partnerships with non-profit, governmental, and private stakeholders all across the world, and has collaborated with governmental agencies across the state of Illinois from Chicago to Champaign.
VEN TE CHOW HYDROSYSTEMS LAB
Chicago sewer system used as testbed to develop new MetroFlow framework
An innovative framework makes modeling integrated urban drainage systems at the city level simpler and more flexible, allowing easier identification of problematic areas as well as predicting the effects that infrastructure improvements and expansion may have on a city’s overall resilience to severe storms-induced vulnerabilities. The framework, called MetroFlow, was developed in a multi-year study led by civil and environmental engineering professor Marcelo H. Garcia at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
More CEE Illinois news
Rural air pollution may be as hazardous as urban, study finds
- CEE News
- January 26, 2022
Laboratory Insights into Invasive Fish Species Transport in Rivers
- CEE News
- September 3, 2024